Methaqualone: Ingestion methods

Last modified: Saturday, 20. June 2009 - 12:44 pm

Before methaqualone’s legal production and marketing was stopped worldwide, the drug was manufactured in both tablet and capsule form in various strengths. Counterfeit versions of the drug are still produced in South Africa, India, and other parts of the world today. The drugs look remarkably similar to the original pharmaceutical tablet versions, including the manufacturer’s markings. Methaqualone is also found in illicit capsule and powder forms. During the 1970s, a popular method of recreational methaqualone use was to take the drug with a glass of wine. The practice was known as “luding out” (in reference to the brand name Quaalude). Taking methaqualone with alcohol, another depressant of the central nervous system (CNS), increased the sedative effect of the drug. It could also prove to be deadly if the potent depressant combination caused respiratory failure. Mandrax, also the brand name for the now-illegal UK version of methaqualone, is made by combining the drug with small amounts of antihistamine. In South Africa, where methaqualone abuse has become a serious public health problem, Mandrax is sometimes mixed marijuana.